I've been suffering from GAS lately, and to make it worse, it was a multiheaded GAS attack, I was torn between getting an acoustic guitar or a bass, or even a keyboard (and even scarier some non-music things), but now I've been cured by puchasing a Peavey G-Bass, all black, I had hoped to find a bass that looked like the one featured on the cover of David Hodges book (my guitar is a samick telecaster copy with honey pine finish so I admit I'm a sucker for wood... uh, maybe I should rephrase that last bit).
Since I couldn't find a nice bass like the one featured on the cover of the book, I settled for buying the book instead (I would have either way) and will be working through the book, and maybe helpin make the bass forum just a little more active. I do feel bass is a more natural fit for myself than the guitar so it'll likely replace my guitar as my main instrument, though I fully expect that playing bass will improve my guitar playing significantly too.
Welcome, and congrats on your new gear!
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
Contrats on the new Bass, pics, pics, pics we need a picture :D
Paul
I'm 30, and I don't own a camera, or a cell phone, so no pics. Here are some stock photo's that look the same as my guitars...
Butterscotch tele
Mine is a samick and looks exactly the same but with a black nut and a fin shaped headstock
Peavey G Bass
Peavey G Bass
That looks to be the same guitar as I have, only mine is all black.
I'll try to remember to have someone take a snapshot of my stuff so I can post it, though once you've seen one typical looking solid colored bass, you've seen them all. You'll probably get to hear it first. I've got decent recording gear and will be trying to mix together some tracks of me playing something, simple. If those aren't too embarrassing I will post them, otherwise they'll go into private collection...
If my experience of playing bass is anything to go by, your guitar playing will improve dramatically - increased hand strength and increased reach were two major plusses for me. I found my hand wasn't aching after long guitar sessions either...
But the bass is a fun instrument to play, if you're going to take it up full time, then good luck...you might be pleasantly surprised, though, when you pick up a guitar again after a long lay-off!
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
There is one thing that always wore my left hand out when playing guitar, and that was power chords... I never read anything about using your shoulder/back to pull instead of pretty much gripping the frets with the guitar, but it was one of the first things I read about the bass, I'm hoping to break my guitar gripping ways (including bad thumb behavior).
Hi Maliciant
And thanks for buying the book! Please feel free to email me if you've any questions.
The bass guitar on the cover (as well as the hands) belongs to one of my students. It's a Carvin, if memory serves me correctly. I believe it's about five or six years old and I seem to recall the wood is "swamp ash" for some reason...
I may be really wrong about all that... :wink:
Peace
And thanks for buying the book! Please feel free to email me if you've any questions.
You must be a bit of a glutton for punishment, the book costs about the same as a half hour lesson (maybe less, I'm not sure) and now it practically includes lessons by email :evil:
I'm pretty confident that I can find the answers to most of my questions in these forums, and when I don't I wouldn't expect you to be obligated to answer my questions personally (though obviously you can), I kind of figure you get plenty of that anyway as a down side to being an active member in a forum that promotes your book.
You must be a bit of a glutton for punishment, the book costs about the same as a half hour lesson (maybe less, I'm not sure) and now it practically includes lessons by email.
Actually, I'm a lot better at not being one than I used to be! :wink: And there's a big difference between answering a direct question and giving full fledged lessons...
But seriously, getting direct feedback also is self-serving. It allows me to see where I could have possibly explained something better, or at least differently. Hopefully it will not only make me a better writer, but it the book sells well enough to need a second edition, I'll have everyone's feedback on what can make it better as well.
You will get lots of help here (I know I do!), and learning through a community like this one is an excellent way to improve.
Okay, this is officially rambling now... :wink:
Peace
I haven't gotten very far in the book, the reason is, I like to get comfortable when I'm reading, and around chapter 5 or so, there are little rhythm sections, and I feel obligated to play them at least a few times before I move on... it's difficult to find a way to be comfortable reading, with a bass strapped to me (reading sheet music off a stand is one thing but reading words... somehow that's wrong). This isn't something wrong with the book so much as my own little compulsion not to skip the basic stuff in case I miss something that might be important later on.
The other distraction is of course, now that I have two distinctly different instruments... I'm very much interested in trying to record and mix things together, unfortunately I'm finding this accents greatly my lack of steady rhythm, even when playing with the metronome, something I got when I originally purchased my guitar about 6 years ago..... and the original batteries in it are still good, so you know I've been neglecting it anyway (I'm lying, I changed them once, but it wasn't because I had actually used it much, it's just what happens when batteries sit around too long). The audacity program that was linked to from the online jamming forum is prooving to be much much nicer than how I was doing it before.
You will get lots of help here (I know I do!), and learning through a community like this one is an excellent way to improve.
Ummm - you're a guitar teacher - if you still need help what hope is there for us mere mortals? I've learned so much from you - so who did you learn from? More to the point, who are you still learning from?
Only joking David - with every new thing/tip/trick I learn, I realise how much there is still to learn....guitars are like icebergs, at least 7/8ths of guitar knowledge is hidden below the surface....you have to dive deeply to get at the main body....
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
Just for the record, my issue with having piles of little things every other paragraph that I felt compelled to practice was mostly a chapter 5 issue, some of the information between chapter 5 and chapter 9 has finally helped pull together some of the music theory stuff that's been floating in my head in a jumble for some time. I feel like I've been neglecting my bass studies a bit, but recording is just too fun, I came up with something pretty catchy and once I am satisfied I'll post it for everyone's ear bleeding pleasure.
...some of the information between chapter 5 and chapter 9 has finally helped pull together some of the music theory stuff that's been floating in my head in a jumble for some time. I feel like I've been neglecting my bass studies a bit, but recording is just too fun, I came up with something pretty catchy and once I am satisfied I'll post it for everyone's ear bleeding pleasure.
That's the best news I could hope to hear! :wink: Looking forward to hearing the recording. Be sure to post it in the "Hear Here" section so that everyone will get a listen!
Peace
